Hid himself in Kosovo: British priest pedophile arrested after 5 years

A British Catholic priest, accused by his country's judiciary of child sexual abuse, was arrested on Sunday at London airport after five years on the run, police said, reports the Patria news agency.

Andrew Charles Kingston Soper (72) was arrested upon arrival from Kosovo and immediately detained. He is accused of sexual abuse on nine occasions between 1972 and 1986.

His arrest ends a long legal battle between Great Britain and Kosovo.

The British priest was arrested in May in Kosovo, where he had been hiding, based on a European arrest warrant issued by Great Britain. He has been in custody since then, but two weeks ago, the Kosovo judiciary refused to extradite him for the second time.

Kosovo justified this refusal by the fact that the "charges against him should soon become statute-barred".

Kosovo authorities were unavailable for comment on the priest's return to Great Britain or his arrest.

London police claim they do not know whether his return was the result of an agreement with Kosovo or if Soper returned to London of his own free will, reports jutarnji.hr.